Till quite recently, hyenas were common visitors in Skukuza at night and gave us a few bad scares!A long time ago I also saw lion in Skukuza at night.In October we had a buffalo going to sleep next to our tent, but luckily on the other side of the fence!We also saw a skink in Balule.

The world is truly round and seems to start and end with those we love...Nelson MandelaDecember '12????1-6 May '13

bigbuf wrote:Love using my torch around the camp fences, we have often seen amazing sights this way.At th moment i have a 20 million candle power rechargeable spotlight, myself and my best mate seem to have a competition on the go and every time we meet at the Kruger we try and outdo each other with a bigger/brighter spotlight. My wife thinks we're both pretty sad but there you go !

I hope she dosnt read this but check out this 40 million candle power beast i have my eye on.

Perhaps you should 'surprise' your friend with a UV Torch (blue light) that shows up scorpions... That was my intended 'fun' activity for my teenage kids during the holidays, but I'm afraid all the rain washed the scorpies out to sea or into hiding...

"To be playing a part, no matter how small, in the conservation of our dwindling wildlife is an experience I shall always cherish." - Stuart Hilcove

Huge male lion in LetabaCivet and hyena in Shingwedzi very close to each otherHyena and civet in TambotiHyena and rhino in Berg en DalHyena, African Wild cat and Genet in SkukuzaAnd a snake crawled into our tent in Satara which we had to get removed.

Snakes on the road at Skukuza in the camping area on a hot September night,Scops owls in Tamboti, Talamati, Letaba (pearlie also), Bush baby & bbj Skukuza,Civet in a tree in LS,AWC in Tamboti, while on a night ride.

The best sighting I had was 2 years ago after watching my beloved Man United defeat Arsenil in the champions league one dark night in Letaba (courtesy of the duty manager and the TV room) , after all the humans were sleeping, while trying to work out all the noises of the night, while walking back 'home' was....nothing, thankfuly as I got back to the rondavel.

Whatever (according to BB): "You are correct but I don't want to admit it".

Last December we had a hippo grazing about two meters from the fence at Balule where our tent was pitched. I just got in to bed around 23h00 when SO spotted it outside. Then there was the usual hyenas patrolling the fence day and night.

At Letaba we had a sudden heavy noise which we thought was a elephant trampling through the thickets. We waited in heavy anticipation as the noise drew near, our hearts beating with exitement I do not feel very often. It turned out to be a buffalo which was still worth while. There was the thicktailed bushbaby we saw very clearly. Wild Dreamer (my mom) and SO saw a porcupine a few nights later trying to get through the fence to get in to Letaba!!!

Although most of these sightings were on the other side of the camp's fence, SO and I decided that we would always be camping so that we could be next to the fence. This would give us more opportunity to see some animals at night as well...and it is more affordable....

Punda Maria - Ciwet, genetSkukuza - PorcupineShipandane hide - The infamous short temper of a buffalo bull. We were doing the regular KNP supper (meat on a fire) when something scraped against the poles. Having let out all the fluids in the body we went inside, I then torched around and into the eyes of the buff, he was not to happy and then proceeded to take his anger out on some poor tree, which was a great wake-up to the brute power of these guys, and the short temper. Then got woken next morning by a hippo scattering his dung less than 3 metres fom where I was sleeping, maybe telling me what he though of us sleeping in his domain

great thread!!i love doing this because i often get rewarded. last weekend i saw:bush babies on the roof of our bungalow at -letabapoisonous scorpion that i nearly stood on in our bungalow at -letaba squirrel at -shingwedziother tripslion at -skukuzahyenas at -sataraelephants mating at -shingwedziGenet at-satara

Hi Jeffgordon, on some trips to Kruger I've seen absolutley no snakes at night then sometimes on one particular trip I'll get lucky and see it all. Finding snakes is always my sole intention when venturing around the camps at night with a torch and anything else is just a bonus. I concentrate on looking where the ground meets structures like walls (low or high), large trees or rocks and also (if possible), near water where they might come in search of frogs. The python was shown to me by a first class ranger who knew I was interested in seeing one, although this was not actually spotted within a camp. When looking for snakes it is advisable to know your snakes well and always keep a safe distance (even from those that are not considered venomous), in order to give them the freedom they deserve and also for one's own safety.